Italian Wikipedia replaces every page with free speech protest

The government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is pushing …

On Tuesday, Wikipedia took the drastic step of replacing every Italian-language page with a statement warning that a law now under consideration by the Italian parliament could force the shutdown of the Italian edition of Wikipedia. In the English version of its statement, Wikipedia says the law includes "a requirement to all websites to publish, within 48 hours of the request and without any comment, a correction of any content that the applicant deems detrimental to his/her image." Wikipedia says this requirement is "an unacceptable restriction of the freedom and independence of Wikipedia," and would paralyze Wikipedia's bottom-up editing process.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is currently on trial for corruption and having sex with an underage prostitute. His government is trying to restrict publication of police wiretapping transcripts after Berlusconi was embarrassed by leaked transcripts of his own phone calls.

One of those transcripts show him expressing contempt for his country and a desire to leave it. In another, he directed a "crude insult" at German leader Angela Merkel. In a third, he boasted, of "'doing eight girls" in a night and joked that with all his sexual activity, he was only prime minister 'in [his] spare time.'"

Berlusconi's government insists the law would safeguard the privacy of all Italians.

Section 29 of the proposed legislation would force websites to post any corrections submitted to them. There's no provision for verifying the accuracy of the corrections, nor is there a process of judicial review.

Italian Wikipedia editors argue that they "have always been available to review—and modify, if needed—any content deemed to be detrimental to anyone, without harm to the project's neutrality and independence." And they argue that existing defamation law already gives adequate protections for Italians who are unfairly maligned by a website.

Italian-language articles are now available again, but a banner opposing the legislation continues to appear on the Italian Wikipedia home page. The protest statement was viewed 16 million times in the two days it was up.

Wikipedia says the Italian site is its fourth-largest, with more than over 800,000 articles and over 600,000 registered users.

Timothy B. Lee
Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times. Emailtimothy.lee@arstechnica.com//Twitter@binarybits

73 Reader Comments

One of those transcripts show him expressing contempt for his country and a desire to leave it. In another, he directed a "crude insult" at German leader Angela Merkel. In a third, he boasted, of "'doing eight girls" in a night and joked that with all his sexual activity, he was only prime minister 'in [his] spare time.'"

Dammit, it wasn't eight...it was eighteen...the transcript got it wrong! Please correct that

Does the law only state Italian Wikipedia? Cause if it happens, someone else could register another site name... say Wikitalia? And make it open-to-edit.

The law would apply to any website that publish any kind of news, including professional newspapers, personal blogs and the like. Wikipedia, precisely because it is a wiki, would be hit particularly badly by the measure, but the absurd law is meant to be applied to everyone.

Section 29 of the proposed legislation would force websites to post any corrections submitted to them. There's no provision for verifying the accuracy of the corrections, nor is there a process of judicial review.

Doesn't anyone drafting this legislation work in, I don't know, government?!? For the love of Pete! I mean there's corruption, and then there's out right insanity. The drafters didn't pause to think if there were any issues with Section 29? Really? *BOOM* That was my head esploding.

Anyone with a brain in the Italian government will not let this pass. Its pretty clear that this PM is going down in flames and unless they want to go down with him, they should just kill off this incredibly dumb law.

Seriously, that country is a fuckin joke, it's so crooked it's not even funny. It's mostly due to this mentally challenged, absolutely crooked 70-y mafioso midget who's biggest concern as Prime Minister in the middle of a worldwide recession - and his country is already illiquid - is to prove he can still get his dick up and use it despite his age and give tax breaks for himself and his buddies...

This New Yorker article is a pretty good primer on the current state of affairs in Silvio's world, with a focus on gender issues. It's eye-opening stuff if you haven't been keeping up with Italian politics. Berlusconi's like a strange amalgamation of Rupert Murdoch, JFK, Roberto Benigni, Hugh Hefner, and Archie Bunker.

Anyone with a brain in the Italian government will not let this pass. Its pretty clear that this PM is going down in flames and unless they want to go down with him, they should just kill off this incredibly dumb law.

That's not so easy. Most of the people in Parliament and in the government are nobodies with no personal power base. Thanks to the current electoral law, approved under the previous Berlusconi government, the party secretary (that is Berlusconi) presents an ordered list of candidates and the first N candidates (where N depends on the percentage of votes received by the party) are elected to Parliament

So at the moment there are people who became MPs, ministers or regional councilors because their naked pictures caught Berlusconi's eye, because they were his children's teachers, because they're good at telling jokes, because they were/are his lawyers in one of his many trials, because they organize parties and find nice looking girls for the bunga-bunga, etc. etc.

All these people know that they're finished the moment Berlusconi's gone, so they'll vote whatever needed to keep him in power for another few months.

Everyone in the country (and outside it) go out to the Italian govt websites, find something that annoys you, and require a change. Anything, no matter how trivial. If there's no legal penalty for lying or providing false info, be outrageous.

I remember visiting Italy several years ago *before the global recession*. They were having a budget crisis and the only law they could pass was on pasta purity standards, which were overturned by the EU because it was against the treaty. The Italian government is totally dysfunctional and irresponsible. Now their entire country is on the verge of financial collapse, and what do they do? They debate laws to limit free speech in order to protect the Mafia, err, I mean the president. If they do pass this law, will they be able to pay any cops to enforce it?

Politicians with a brain are actually quite the exception in the current government. And against a vast majority of spineless drones, carefully bred for docility and loyalty to their master, they're largely powerless.

This law is undoubtedly an abomination, and Wikipedia's protest is absolutely justified. However, the article gets one point wrong: in the form currently being pushed, the requirement to publish corrections only applies to newspapers and registered online publications, which does *not* include Wikipedia itself.

What kind of precedent does this action by Wikipedia set? Italy doesn't have a monopoly on the Italian language and not everyone who speaks Italian lives in Italy. And as far as I'm aware the point of the Italian wikipedia is that its written in the Italian language, not that its affiliated with the country.

If Spain passed a ridiculous censorship law, would they consider taking down all Spanish content?

What kind of precedent does this action by Wikipedia set? Italy doesn't have a monopoly on the Italian language and not everyone who speaks Italian lives in Italy. And as far as I'm aware the point of the Italian wikipedia is that its written in the Italian language, not that its affiliated with the country.

If Spain passed a ridiculous censorship law, would they consider taking down all Spanish content?

And who do you suppose is writing most of the Italian-language articles? More importantly, in what language do you suppose Italian politicians are most likely to have Wikipedia articles, and in which language do you suppose the articles that Italian politicians most care about are written?

In short, the Italian Wikipedia particularly cares about Italian laws for the same reason the English Wikipedia cares about new laws in the US or the UK, and the German Wikipedia cares about German laws, etc.

Anyone with a brain in the Italian government will not let this pass. Its pretty clear that this PM is going down in flames and unless they want to go down with him, they should just kill off this incredibly dumb law.

That's not so easy. Most of the people in Parliament and in the government are nobodies with no personal power base. Thanks to the current electoral law, approved under the previous Berlusconi government, the party secretary (that is Berlusconi) presents an ordered list of candidates and the first N candidates (where N depends on the percentage of votes received by the party) are elected to Parliament

So at the moment there are people who became MPs, ministers or regional councilors because their naked pictures caught Berlusconi's eye, because they were his children's teachers, because they're good at telling jokes, because they were/are his lawyers in one of his many trials, because they organize parties and find nice looking girls for the bunga-bunga, etc. etc.

All these people know that they're finished the moment Berlusconi's gone, so they'll vote whatever needed to keep him in power for another few months.

This is only postponing the inevitable. They could either cut ties and try to hold on to their current positions using their own merits (legitimate or otherwise) or try to prop up Berlusconi a little longer and end up tainting their own reputations in the long run. You make it sound as if the people in power are completely unfit for the job and are only there because Berlusconi put them there. Sadly that is entirely possible and probable, but call me a optimist. I just want to believe that whether or not they are one of Berlusconi's shills, they at least have some semblance of competence when it comes to the job they were hired to do. If not, they should (unfortunately, probably will not) be replaced as a matter of course.

On the other hand, I am sure they has to be some opposing political fore that would love to Berlusconi and his cronies go down and this is their chance.

I just want to believe that whether or not they are one of Berlusconi's shills, they at least have some semblance of competence when it comes to the job they were hired to do. If not, they should (unfortunately, probably will not) be replaced as a matter of course.

fishsandwich, two weeks ago, after the neutrino experiment, the Minister for Education and Research (a woman unknown to most Italians until Berlusconi decided she was the best person for the job three years ago) released a self-congratulatory communique in which she said she was proud of having financed the construction of the underground tunnel between Geneva and the Gran Sasso.

This is the average level of competence you can expect from the government.

I think it is probably hard for people who have never lived in Italy to understand how a guy like this can be a successful politician.

Italy (ESPECIALLY the south) is run by criminals and has an antiquated economic social clan mentality that makes the medieval system of guilds look like a model of liberal economic theory and meritocracy. You don't get ahead through hard work and talent, you get ahead through connections; corruption, manipulation, lying, etc are not seen as negatives in that system but merely tools one uses for creating a niche for oneself.

For example, Italian academia: Italian universities are necrotic malignancies that betray the country and their students for the benefit of those inside the system. Getting tenure requires playing a corrupt game of clan politics, and anyone with any shred of talent gets the fuck out of Italy before wasting one second in that educational miasma. The professors are terrible and lazy, but relatively well paid, as is the support staff without exception. But once a person is in the system, they are set for life. It's an incorrigible corrupt game that only benefits the insiders.

Every sector of the economy is like thisc run and staffed by people tenaciously protecting their little fiefdom of power, and being horror struck at the prospect of real competition. Cab driving, lawyering, whatever it is you want to do, you need to play the corrupt clan game.

So, if the Italian economy wasn't facing collapse, SB would still be popular. Most Italians would celebrate him as a successful furbo and a man worthy of emulation, afterall he hasn't done anything that 90% of Italians wouldn't have done if they were in his position.

The problem is that the Italian system makes them uncompetitive. Investing in Italy is really really unappealing, and the productivity of their workforces is dismal. Contrast Italy with Germany, [I've got to go and I could keep wrting about this all day, ciao!]

My bank is currently posting information on their website that I deem detrimental to my image. My account balance is at least 10,000 times what they say it is. I demand they rectify this violation of my privacy within 48 hours without verifying the accuracy of the corrections, or requiring any judicial review.

I think it is probably hard for people who have never lived in Italy to understand how a guy like this can be a successful politician.

Italy (ESPECIALLY the south) is run by criminals and has an antiquated economic social clan mentality that makes the medieval system of guilds look like a model of liberal economic theory and meritocracy. You don't get ahead through hard work and talent, you get ahead through connections; corruption, manipulation, lying, etc are not seen as negatives in that system but merely tools one uses for creating a niche for oneself.

For example, Italian academia: Italian universities are necrotic malignancies that betray the country and their students for the benefit of those inside the system. Getting tenure requires playing a corrupt game of clan politics, and anyone with any shred of talent gets the fuck out of Italy before wasting one second in that educational miasma. The professors are terrible and lazy, but relatively well paid, as is the support staff without exception. But once a person is in the system, they are set for life. It's an incorrigible corrupt game that only benefits the insiders.

Every sector of the economy is like thisc run and staffed by people tenaciously protecting their little fiefdom of power, and being horror struck at the prospect of real competition. Cab driving, lawyering, whatever it is you want to do, you need to play the corrupt clan game.

So, if the Italian economy wasn't facing collapse, SB would still be popular. Most Italians would celebrate him as a successful furbo and a man worthy of emulation, afterall he hasn't done anything that 90% of Italians wouldn't have done if they were in his position.

The problem is that the Italian system makes them uncompetitive. Investing in Italy is really really unappealing, and the productivity of their workforces is dismal. Contrast Italy with Germany, [I've got to go and I could keep wrting about this all day, ciao!]

Does the law only state Italian Wikipedia? Cause if it happens, someone else could register another site name... say Wikitalia? And make it open-to-edit.

The law would apply to any website that publish any kind of news, including professional newspapers, personal blogs and the like. Wikipedia, precisely because it is a wiki, would be hit particularly badly by the measure, but the absurd law is meant to be applied to everyone.

Still, it'd be some fun trying to apply it to media companies in other countries. I know it happens sometimes, but I have a hard time seeing the UK or US give up media companies in their countries, especially with how bratty the Italian government is being with their little money problem...